As everyone knows I love footy and I love gadgets. So you can imagine my excitement when I got the opportunity to combine the two.

We’ve announced today that we’ve taken innovation to a new level, launching AFL Glassware , one of the first sporting applications worldwide for the highly anticipated Google Glass. In doing so we believe we’re beating out the likes of England’s Premier League and America’s National Football League.

AFL Glassware will give Glass-equipped Aussie Rules fans access to live match commentary, scores and scheduling. Imagine a translucent heads-up display unobtrusively positioned in your vision field, giving you real-time updates on what’s happening around the league. It will be the ultimate way to stay connected to the game with a simple glance, while staying part of the activities around you.

At the launch we had AFL players Patrick Dangerfield and Adam Goodes testing out the product and they were both suitably impressed. Although Google Glass is not yet for sale within Australia, we felt it was important to anticipate the need of our customers and have applications ready for the marketplace when it does go on sale. It also reinforces our commitment as the digital partner to the AFL.

To date more than 1.7 million fans have downloaded the AFL Live App, which features live match streaming on smartphones and tablets and we believe that this development will continue to allow us to help fans connect with the game in the way that suits them best. In testing the application has been really successful and I can’t wait for next season so we can literally help AFL fans keep their eyes on the ball!

The application was created in partnership with local Melbourne developer Seventh Beam and Managing Director Jeff Smith said,  “The experience of having all your footy scores and updates presented to you in this new and immersive way is an exciting thing for AFL fans. This sort of technology is something most people haven’t had access to before, so we’re really excited to be working with Telstra to bring it to sports fans here.”

Foxtel is one of Australia’s most progressive and dynamic media companies, directly employing around 2,500 people, and delivering a diverse subscription television service to both regional and metropolitan areas over cable, satellite and IPTV distribution.

Foxtel was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra (50%, through Telstra Media Pty Ltd) and News Corp (50%, through News Corp Australia) with a goal to offer the best entertainment experience every day.

Foxtel currently reaches 2.3 million subscribers through delivery of exclusive and inspiring programming across all genres, the world’s most popular channel brands, and investment of $600 million every year in new and original Australian content.

Over the past year the Foxtel TV experience has moved rapidly from the fixed home Pay TV product offering to a multi screen, multi device live and on demand content strategy product.

First came on August 2012 the update to Mobile Foxtel from Telstra offering the Foxtel experience on a range of compatible Next G® handsets, Android, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and our mobile tablet range of devices including the Apple iPad and iPad 2.

Mobile Foxtel offers Telstra customers access to a wide range of custom-programmed TV channels from Foxtel covering sports, entertainment and the latest news. Packages started from just $2 per week. Mobile Foxtel is Unmetered. Telstra Mobile customers are not charge for any data usage whilst watching Mobile Foxtel.

On 7 November 2012, Foxtel launched a mobile app called Foxtel Go on iPad.

Foxtel Go is a free multi screen content extension for residential Pay TV Foxtel customers with a set-top box and a log-in ID. Customer can access any channel that they are subscribed to on their normal subscription account.

Foxtel Go was created after the success of Foxtel award winning London 2012 tablet app, which simulcast 8 live high definition channels that were also offered on the standard Foxtel service. The channels provided live coverage of the 2012 London Olympic games.

Foxtel Go has continued to innovate and a few months of launch the product moved from just IPad tablet to to iPod touch and Iphone mobile app extensions. Last month enhancements continued and on July 16, 2013 Foxtel Go app was updated with a host of new devices including select Samsung Android tablets and smartphones as well as PC and Mac computers.

This was eagerly anticipated and dramatically increases in the number of ways Foxtel subscribers can take their entertainment with them resulted in continued customer feedback and demand so Foxtel has upped the number of devices that can be registered to Foxtel Go from two to three for every Foxtel subscription. It truely is a fantastic offering.

Foxtel Go now brings up to 59 live channels and over 50 channels for on demand catch up viewing. Customers simply download the Foxtel Go app from the Foxtel website, Samsung Apps or the App Store, then enter their Foxtel login and start enjoying great mobile entertainment.

Unlike Mobile Foxtel paylight offering the channels offered on Foxtel Go subscription service are a live simulcast of the standard Pay TV channel listing, where as on Mobile Foxtel, it is a loop of selected shows or 200 hours per month.

In the end the customer has a lot of choice in a subscription content service and from today this choice continues with Foxtel launching the next phase of multi screen content offering called Foxtel Play with a free seven-day trial ahead of a larger launch on August 11.

Foxtel Play is allowing, for the first time, customers to sign onto the Foxtel service on a month-to-month basis without the need for having a dedicated fixed line subscription to Foxtel. The service is available on PC, Mac, Xbox 360, and Samsung smart TVs and the T-Box very soon.

Foxtel Play starts at AU$25 per month for a basic package either including entertainment channels, drama channels, documentary channels, or kids’ channels. Customers can add another package for AU$10 extra per month, two for AU$20, or have all four for AU$50 per month. The subscriptions are month to month, and customers can cancel at any time. Foxtel Play subscribers will also get access to Foxtel’s Go app for smartphones and tablets.

More innovation is in the pipeline and Foxtel will continue to add value for subscribers and look to increase the number and type of devices consumers can use to access the world’s best television content in the home or on the move.

A prediction or forecast is a statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not always based on experience or knowledge.

While there is much overlap between prediction and forecast, a prediction may be a statement that some outcome is expected, while a forecast is more specific, and may cover a range of possible outcomes.

From the first black-and-white TV box, to the latest HD 3D Internet TV technology. From the phonograph cylinder invented by Thomas Edison to the Apple iPhone made famous by Steve Jobs. From static showcased TV programmes, to on-demand and user-generated content. From traditional hardcopy newspapers, to instant-access digital publications. Change in the last fifty years has been at epic proportions some technologies were predicted less was forecasted on the consumer behaviour that has resulted.

Many of the world’s changes during this time has been created because of expansion in telecommunications technology so people can use new tools and products in new ways to connect to people and to the things that matter to them.

This consumer demand to connect is something at Telstra we spend a lot of time thinking about. We are working as a company to adapt to a changing consumer landscape and demand for things to be easier, more engaging and useful.

The advent of the Internet has triggered a radical transformation of the old media principles. We are at a crucial point in time where people’s input can shape media standards, policy, their relationships with businesses and the almighty payment method.

How do you think the evolution of media will unfold? What will media look like in 10-20 years? How will it be consumed and how will it be monitized are things we think about on a daily basis.

Telstra is no doubt in a unique position to really enable that connection of people through our superior broadband and mobile network. All signs so far point to a future that is truly connected, a new media model with be created, to business where machines will be talking to each to provide new efficiency that can delight their customers.

No doubt a prediction is that Telstra will be right in the middle of it – shaping the world around our customers.

We produced the below branded video to capture a vision for the company that takes the brand forward from a Telecommunications company to an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company. This is where our future lies. All the technologies are now in development and far from science fiction.

We are not the first telco to paint a future of change. I stumbled onto this fascinating vision of telecommunications as that future was seen by AT&T in 1961. It would seem we moved faster then the forecast predicted.

We agree that too much sport is never enough. There is a lot of sport on your plate in Australia and around the world for that matter and we understand it can be hard keeping up with it all.

The mentality of the Australian sports fan is often such that they will experience a game, or event while living vicariously through players or teams whom the fan favours.

So to deliver to this very personal taste Telstra Media has produced an exciting four screen sport assistance utility called SportsFan that follows the excitement level of your favourite sport and alerts you once it heats up.

In fact you’ll never miss an important sporting event with the all-new SportsFan web, mobile, IPTV and smartphone app experience. SportsFran Game Tracker technology will alert you when your favourite sport heats up. Set it to alert you when the games moves from “OK” to “Good”, only once it gets “Hot”, or only when it reaches “Epic” status.

You can also get alerts at Game Start, at every Score Change, or at Game End. The people must be heard: simply hit the BOOST button to contribute to the game’s excitement rating. Of course. Simply hit the STAR icon on your favourite team page to readily access their games. Full news coverage to keep you in-the-know, including analysis and opinion from SportsFan’s The Lowdown.

Get video on demand from SportsFan’s brand new sports chat show, The Clubhouse. Hosted by Bill Woods and featuring an all-star support cast of Matt Burke, Brad Fittler, Brad Seymour, Renee Gartner and Mieke Buchan, The Clubhouse provides sports news that’s fun to be around.

Catch The Clubhouse live on SportsFan TV at 8pm every Monday to Thursday, online, on your mobile, or channel 989 on your T-Box, or watch the best bits on demand at your leisure right here.

A western Sydney fruit farmer, a French eco-scientist and Aussie rockers Evermore have teamed up in a unique experiment to see if Telstra’s music streaming service MOG can make fruit grow better.

With the launch of ‘Made by MOG’, music fans around the country have the opportunity to submit their own music playlist from MOG’s 16 million song library and have it streamed to a 45 hectare, loudspeaker equipped apple orchard.

The best MOG mix entered via the madebymog.com.au website will be pumped out via Sonos speakers to Cedar Creek Orchard’s apple trees, before the fruit is harvested and specially processed to create the ultimate fruit juice for one lucky winner.

Evermore, soon to kick off their national 2013 Hero Tour, and one of thousands of artists available on MOG, is supporting the experiment.

“We think – and I’m sure a lot of people will agree – that music simply makes things better,” Evermore band member Jon Hume said.

“If music really does help fruit grow, then having 16 million songs at your fingertips through MOG is going to produce some pretty crazy juice.

“We all have different tastes, whether it’s music or juice, so we’re looking forward to seeing which mix takes out the comp,” Jon said.

Music fans can go to www.madebymog.com.au  to  see how Cedar Creek Orchard’s Mark Silm and French professor Yannick Van Doorne worked together to create three very special fruit juices, grown to music from MOG’s massive library.

“Tastes Like Teen Spirit”, “Baby I was Grown This Way” and “Blue Suede Juice” varieties are all up for grabs for winning entrants, as is a Sonos speaker package and FREE 6-month subscription to MOG.

The experiment is all about showing how music makes things better.

Campaign produced by Droga 5 Sydney

Today is the 152nd Melbourne Cup, Australia’s major thoroughbred horse race and marketed in our sporting calendar on the first Tuesday in November as “the race that stops a nation”. It is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds known around the world as richest two-mile handicap. The event is hosted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

The best way to prepare for this exciting event today is to visit Telstra Media’s Racing Network so you can be best prepared for your afternoon flutter.

The Racing Network is a four screen digital experience consisting of a dedicated IPTV channel, a powerful and exciting online and mobile destination that offers best-of-breed Australian thoroughbred racing information and multimedia content from TVN (ThoroughVision), Best Bets and editorial support from Telstra Media Sports team.

This month during the Spring Carnival we have launched a new IPhone app offering all racing enthusiasts the opportunity to watch daily live thoroughbred racing from Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan and Victorian race tracks via 3G and 4G mobile. The app also offers latest racing news, Best Bets Form and Results, Profiles (Horse, Jockey and Trainer), Stewards Reports and much more.

The Odds Comparator is a popular feature that is present throughout the online and mobile sites, providing frequently updated odds for every race. Fans of the Sport of Kings will also be able to place a bet through the Wagering Comparator via a selection of approved wagering company websites.

The linchpin of the Racing Network destination is the Calendar, which gives you access to every race during the season and all relevant racing data. Use the dashboard for quick access to live vision, next to jump form data and Race Books.

So what are you waiting for, get a closer look at this years Melbourne Cup at The Racing Network.

GameArena from Telstra Media is one of Australia’s largest and longest serving games services that is celebrating ten years of operation this month.

GameArena is a destination for Australian gamers that features hard-hitting editorial news, reviews and previews and a massive community of active gamers featuring ladder competitions, epic forums and hundreds of game servers.

GameArena gives gamers the opportunity to buy, rent and play from the largest and best range of both online and direct to mobile games available. GameArena is where Australians can chat to other gamers, join online games, win great prizes, and get the latest reviews and trailers of PC, Xbox, Nintendo, Playstation as well as smart mobile device games.

GameArena members can enter a round robin competition with players vying for the wall of honour, or you can book a gamer server to play with friends. the destination offers a rich digital media environment for brands to reach a hard to get audience through pre-roll and video sponsorship opportunities.

Advertising can be booked on cult-status gaming programs, 5 Inch Floppy, The Benny and Richie Show and GameArena’s Weekly Update that has just celebrated 300 episodes.

GameArena currently operates over 100 gaming servers, which are monitored by a volunteer force of administrators, known as GameOps. Over 2,802,955 forum posts have been logged to date from over 120,000 active community members each month.

GameCreate is a service offered free of charge where users may book a server for a specific game for a 2 hour period of time. This server is private and can be used for either ladder training or social events.

Our massive file library, public servers and booking service is freely available to anyone, but provides specific advantages to Telstra broadband customers such as preference in downloads and unmetered usage. In order to gain access to a majority of game servers, the client The Arena, can be installed to connect through company firewalls. This means that GameArena administrators can ensure troublemakers are consistently dealt with.

So where are we headed with GameArena over the next ten years?

No doubt  more gaming, more gaming partners and of course more on demand services that allows direct and on-demand streaming of games onto a computer or other connected devices is our future. This new gaming world will be similar to video on demand or music on demand product offering through the use of a thin client, in which the actual game is stored on the operator’s server and is streamed directly to connected Internet devices accessing the server through the client.

This streaming future will allow access to games without the need of a console and largely makes the capability of the user’s computer unimportant, as the server is the system that is running the processing needs. The controls and button presses from the user are transmitted directly to the server, where they are recorded, and the server then sends back the game’s response to the input controls.

Exciting times ahead.

When I was Executive Producer at News Interactive (now News Digital Media) way back in 1997 I worked with the Australian Football League launching and maintaining their very first web site, as part of a joint venture between News Limited and Network Seven.

On launching AFL.com.au back last century it soon became the most popular sporting web site in Australia.

Some fifteen years later it still remains the number one sporting web site and I find myself back working alongside the AFL on their digital strategy this time with Telstra Media. How lucky am I!

This year was an unprecedented season using digital channels to engage with fans. To celebrate we have gathered with our 2012 advertisers at the Studio, Etihad Stadium to launch the 2013 Digital Media AFL advertising sales and sponsorship packages.

Checked in at Etihad Stadium for the 2013 Telstra and AFL Digital Media Melbourne Launch

In 2012 the AFL have broken new ground for sports broadcasting in Australia as for the first time, the sport was watched by fans across four different platforms, from terrestrial to subscription television, from IPTV to coverage streamed live via mobile handsets and tablets.

The AFL broadcast rights agreement for 2012-17 was a landmark agreement, valued at $1.25bn, a record rights deal for Australian sport. It has seen Channel Seven, the free-to-air broadcaster, televise three live games per week – one on Friday night, one Saturday night, one Sunday twilight – as well as a Saturday afternoon game more often than not on delay. FOXTEL has re-establish the beloved Fox Footy channel, and telecast five live games exclusively each weekend, as well as simulcast every other match with Channel Seven.

What’s more, the new rights agreement has allowed the AFL to establish AFL Media to drive editorial content for AFL.com.au and associated products with a view towards independent and newsworthy coverage, with exclusive access and the ability to break stories. Highly-valued journalists such as newsbreaker Damien Barrett joined the team, while former News managing editor Matt Pinkney headed up the editorial team.

As the digital rights holder, Telstra steeped up in 2012 to maintain the delivery of AFL.com.au via relationships and deals with outside agencies that in turn provided everything from raw in-game statistical numbers to tailored data to facilitate fantasy sports and other related products to continue to provide an interactive experience for fans wishing to interact with the game be it via a game experience or via tipping, as well as hosting and maintaining AFL.com.au for the period of the new rights deal.

Telstra is the exclusive mobile broadcaster, allowing the fans to take the football with them wherever they were, meaning that follower’s of ‘Australia’s Game’ would never miss a minute of the action in the 2012 Toyota AFL Premiership season, as they were able to watch every match on their mobile handset or tablet device.

This in turn lead to the development of the AFL Live Official App, launched for iPhone, iPad and Android platforms ahead of the regular season beginning in late March, 2012. The AFL Live Official App incorporates content from AFL.com.au as well as the live streaming capabilities delivered by Telstra to effectively become a one-stop shop for fans of the game.

This was created by Telstra Media utilising a range of different outside vendors who provide app building services, as well as Telstra internal agencies that are able engineer the delivery of the live streaming platforms within the app experience.

Once fans have downloaded the AFL Live Official App, they are able to consume a variety of free content, from news and latest ladder positions, to in-depth coverage as part of the match centre, covering all live games and incorporating live stats delivered by an external vendor to Telstra and the AFL who produced the official AFL stats via an xml feed fed into the system via Telstra’s engineering team.

Another free component of the AFL Live Official App has been the availability of full radio coverage from each broadcaster being available to all users, regardless of whether or not they were Telstra customers. The greatest advantage held by Telstra customers in this regard is that the AFL Live Official App is unmetered for Telstra customers, meaning that their use of data is not charged against their plan.

From within the match centre itself, fans are able to select to watch a live match, and elect to subscribe free for the first month, before deciding whether to pay on a match-by-match basis, buy a monthly pass, or purchase a season pass. The subscription service has been made available exclusively to Telstra customers in 2012, and was also unmetered for subscribers.

Telstra has worked collaboratively with the AFL to deliver a host of products with integrated sponsorship between editorial content provided by AFL Media and advertising agencies, an innovative team structure that has allowed product managers and sponsorship managers on both sides of the divide to come together to deliver the best outcome for both fans and advertisers.

The success of the AFL Live Official App on both the iOS and Android platforms has been nothing short of extraordinary from both a commercial and engagement perspective. To the end of August, 2012, some fine months after launch, the AFL Live Official App had been downloaded just shy of 900,000 times across both platforms, with fan engagement attracting over 17 million page impressions, 500,000 unique visitors, and nearly 2.5 million visits each week.

The subscription service has also been a success, generating revenue for Telstra as part of the rights agreement. The streaming of live games regularly attracts over 25,000 viewers who watch around one million minutes of live football each round via their mobile handset or tablet.

So while this year has been big, expect 2013 to be even bigger.

This month we re-launched our Mobile FOXTEL product in response to customer feedback.  Mobile FOXTEL from Telstra is Australia’s only streaming pay-tv service on your mobile phone or tablet. Mobile FOXTEL has 35 channels you can choose from across a wide variety of channels.

Mobile FOXTEL offers Telstra customers access to a wide range of custom-programmed TV channels from Foxtel covering sports, entertainment and the latest news. The product is available on a range of compatible Next G™ handsets, Android, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and our mobile tablet range of devices including the Apple iPad and iPad 2.  

Search for “Mobile FOXTEL” in either the AppsStore or in the Google Play Market place. Mobile Foxtel is also available from your mobile browser. Visit m.bigpond.com and scroll down to Mobile Foxtel and follow the direction to subscribe to the pack of your choice.  Mobile Foxtel is Unmetered. Telstra Mobile customers are not charge for any data usage whilst watching Mobile Foxtel.

For our re-launch we have improved the content channels available and simplified pricing so we can now offer a selection of great value subscription packs. One month free trial – An introductory offer is available whereby customers with a compatible post paid or prepaid mobile can get a free trial of the new ‘Ultimate Pack’ for one month (30 days).

There are three packages available to subscribe to:

Value Pack
16 Channels $2 per week (Prepaid) or $8 per month (Postpaid)
SKY NEWS NATIONAL, SKY NEWS Business, BBC World News, CNN, FOX SPORTS News, Cartoon Network, National Geographic Channel, The Weather Channel, [V],  Nickelodeon, TV1, Discovery Channel Mobile, Channel [V], MAX, ABC and SBS.

Ultimate Pack
30 Channels $3.75 per week (Prepaid) or $15 per month (Postpaid)
SKY NEWS NATIONAL, SKY NEWS Business, BBC World News, CNN, FOX SPORTS News, Cartoon Network, National Geographic Channel, The Weather Channel, [V], Nickelodeon, TV1, Discovery Channel Mobile, Channel [V], MAX, Eurosportnews, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Nick Jr., SCI FI, E!, FOX8, The Comedy Channel, [V] HITS, Nat Geo Adventure, Arena, The LifeStyle Channel, LifeStyle YOU, and the Crime & Investigation Network, ABC and SBS

Ultimate Pack & Plus Sport
35 Channels $5 per week (Prepaid) or $20 per month (Postpaid)
AFL FOOTY.TV, NRL LEAGUE.TV, Sports Play powered by FOX SPORTS, EuroSport, BigPond Sport, SKY NEWS NATIONAL, SKY NEWS Business, BBC World News, CNN, FOX SPORTS News, Cartoon Network, National Geographic Channel, The Weather Channel, [V], Nickelodeon, TV1, Discovery Channel Mobile, Channel [V], MAX, Eurosportnews, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Nick Jr., SCI FI, E!, FOX8, The Comedy Channel, [V] HITS, Nat Geo Adventure, Arena, The LifeStyle Channel, LifeStyle YOU, and the Crime & Investigation Network, ABC and SBS